Posts By
Liz Black

Mariah Carey‘s still talking to anyone who’ll listen about how ugly she had to make herself for her role in Precious. In an interview out today, Carey recounts another story about life without makeup during her shoot for the film, saying “One day Lee [Daniels] caught me trying to put blush on, and he said ‘what are you doing?’ I said, ‘Precious has blush on,’ but he would not let me do it. It was one of those things that I had to do. I guess now I’ll feel better about myself when I’m dressed normally at my house and walk past a mirror and see myself. I’ll be like, well I’ve looked worse.” Onstage, though, she sure is overcompensating for her months spent on poorly lit sets, denied of Jolen Cream Bleach for her upper lip.

Last night at her Hard Rock Live! performance in Florida, Carey was a far cry from her social worker alter ego, Mrs. Weiss. Mimi descended from the ceiling of the venue in a gold and white fairy princess ensemble and jeweled microphone, only to have the white skirt removed (by someone else, of course – but what would you expect from someone married to her umbrella holder?) for the performance. We love that despite all the acclaim for a gritty role, Mariah hasn’t changed at all and is still as much of a diva as ever. [Photo: Getty Images]

That’s not the only bad news Heidi has to deal with either. Monday on Access Hollywood, Heidi told Billy Bush she had some pretty major health complications as a result of her ten plastic surgery procedures, and told him “I almost died after my procedure. I had too much Demerol like Michael Jackson did and my breathing was five breaths per minute which is like almost dead. [I was] in an aftercare center, there were nurses that were supposed to be tending to me at all times.” When asked by the program whether this was true, the attending plastic surgeon Dr. Frank Ryan replied “That didn’t happen as far as I know.” Good try, Heid.

Maybe poor album sales are just karma for lying about being on your deathbed. Hopefully Heidi’s next big procedure will be to have her jaw wired shut. [Photo: Getty Images]

We, like most other folks we know, have been on Team Conan throughout these late-night wars, but we also admit to being on Team Letterman pretty much all the time. Honestly, we’re on any team Jay Leno isn’t on as his humor isn’t our style, and after last night, we will definitely not be watching the new Tonight Show when it premieres on March 1st.

While it’s no secret that Leno and David Letterman have always had a rivalry and Letterman has been having a field day with this whole NBC late night situation, Leno took things maybe a step too far when he took a pot shot at Letterman’s marriage in his monologue, saying “Letterman’s been hammering me every night. . . you want to know the best way to get Letterman to igore you? Marry him!” (You can watch the episode here.) Call us sensitive, but that seems like a low blow, since the barbs slung at Leno have been professional, not personal. Still, Leno is having the last laugh because he gets to give America what they really want: more Bill Clinton and O.J. Simpson jokes. [Photo: Getty Images]

If the Democrats in our country weren’t having a bad enough week already, John Edwards is going to make it that much worse right now. Edwards is finally coming clean and admitting that he fathered Rielle Hunter‘s baby while campaigning in 2007. Also in 2007? Edwards’ wife Elizabeth‘s second bout with breast cancer and their decision to renew their wedding vows on their 30th anniversary. Way to make it a banner year, John.

In a statement released today, Edwards came clean about the child who is now 2 years old:

“I am Quinn’s father. I will do everything in my power to provide her with the love and support she deserves. I have been able to spend time with her during the past year and trust that future efforts to show her the love and affection she deserves can be done privately and in peace. It was wrong for me ever to deny she was my daughter and hopefully one day, when she understands, she will forgive me. I have been providing financial support for Quinn and have reached an agreement with her mother to continue providing support in the future. To all those I have disappointed and hurt these words will never be enough, but I am truly sorry.”

Elizabeth Edwards and others close to the former presidential candidate have known since last summer about the paternity, but this is the first public admission of it. This week is starting to feel like Bizarro world what with Cindy McCain protesting Prop 8 in California, Massachusetts electing a Republican senator, and now a formerly admirable politician admitting he’s just as sketchy as the next pro-golfer. It’s too bad late night comedian’s are so busy skewering each other, they could have a field day with this. [Photo: Getty Images]

Glorious, landlocked Orlando, Florida was sweet relief after the terrible, horrible, no good very bad day we spent in Chicago for American Idol auditions this week. Plenty of great contestants to choose from, a pair of sisters who dressed in neon mini-dresses that came courtesy of the 5-7-9 at the Cherry Hill Mall, a guy in handcuffs, and Kara DioGuardi’s horribleness amplified to the nth power, where “n” equals Kristin Chenoweth. Algebra aside, this was an episode we loved and hated all at once.Read more…

Paula‘s gone, Simon‘s leaving soon and, if last night’s American Idol was any indication, the show is slowly becoming a shadow of its former self. The one thing that will remain is Randy Jackson. Jackson has certainly been the one that’s gotten lost in the Idol Judge Shuffle: he’s not one of the new girls, but he’s not as fun to watch as Simon or Paula either. He’s also steered clear of any contract disputes, cuz this dawg is just happy to be gainfully employed. “I’m there for a while. I still have some time left on my contract,” he recently told the New York Post, adding, “And we’ve built an amazing franchise that can go on for another five or six years.”

And what about the fact that he’s the most overlooked judge on the show? Even Kara DioGuardi gets more attention (Although if we’re writing about her, it’s usually negative attention. But still.) and Ellen DeGeneres‘ February debut will definitely be buzzworthy. Randy doesn’t mind flying under the radar. “I don’t necessarily feel ignored in the situation,” he said. “Look, I’m a musician. I’m a music guy. That’s my world, my life, so whenever I had antics, I was always on stage, performing. I’m just happy to be part of this team and I don’t feel slighted at all. I’m so blessed to be on this amazing ship of a show.”

For now, the S.S. Idol is still sailing, but we’re curious to see if it truly does have five or six more years in it without Captain Cowell. Our eyes are peeled for Coca-Cola and Ford sponsored icebergs ahead.

Obviously certain people are bound to have the same exact taste in clothes sometimes but the real issue occurs when A) two people show up to the same event in said outfit or B) the clothing in question is fugly. And then there’s option C), the extra-unfortunate “All of the above.”

Actresses Deja Kreutzberg (you may have forgotten her from such films as Sorority Row) and Taylor Spreitler (from “Days Of Our Lives”) both showed up to the Extraordinary Measures premiere, perhaps hoping to wow the photographers and Harrison Ford with a short and springy frock. Unfortunately for them, the bubble-skirted blue-green number stuck out like a wrinkled, satiny thumb, something no stylist would dare put on a client. The blue sash lends a bit of pageantry to the mix too; we half expected to see the actresses home states printed across their bodies. We hate ourselves for writing this, but it’s like someone’s Taylor had Deja vu. Right? Guys?

Kate Moss has led a relatively tame personal life since breaking up with drug-addled bad boy Pete Doherty. She has quietly been dating musician Jamie Hince for the past two years and now sources are claiming the pair is engaged.

Moss turned 36 this past weekend, and a friend tells the New York Daily News that Hince flew to meet her in Mustique, where she was working, to surprise her with an engagement ring. “It was the first time they had been alone together in quite a while and it was extremely emotional. Kate and Jamie are in a very good place, they already live together and this is the next step to settling down for good,” the friend told the paper. In addition to Doherty, Moss has previously dated Johnny Depp and journalist Jefferson Hack (who is father to Kate’s 7-year-old daughter Lila Grace). If we were friends with Kate and Jamie, we’d surely buy them a celebratory pack of smokes, the one accessory neither is ever without.

Yeesh. Last night’s American Idol bordered on tedious, no? Or maybe we, like the judges, just have no patience for an abundance of wacky contestants over genuinely good (or even terrible but entertaining) ones. As Simon Cowell put it so concisely, “This is a complete and utter waste of time.” Over 12,000 people showed up for the Chicago auditions and only 13 left with golden tickets to Hollywood, that’s how crappy the talent was, and the judges themselves couldn’t even fake their enthusiasm. But at least Shania Twain proved herself a capable and compassionate judge, even if she did like yanking her own drawstrings (not a euphemism). And hey, we also got a weird cover of the Growing Pains theme song so there’s that.